9th Circuit's Ruling for Google 'Artificially Shrunk' Scope of Copyright Law, Law Firm Says

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals en banc ruling against requiring Google remove the controversial anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims from YouTube (see 1505180063) “artificially shrunk” U.S. copyright rights “by deciding that actors do not have copyright interests in their own dramatic performances,” said The Armenta Law Firm in a news release Monday. Armenta is one of the firms representing actress Cindy Lee Garcia in her request for a mandatory preliminary takedown of the video, which Garcia claims she was falsely lured into briefly appearing in. The 9th Circuit's en banc ruling reversed an earlier ruling by three of the circuit's judges that allowed for the video's takedown (see report in the March 3, 2014, issue). The en banc ruling “short changes the threats” Garcia has received since the video first appeared online in 2012 and didn't address Garcia's “First Amendment right to be free of the speech crudely dubbed over her performance,” Armenta said. Google has “long believed that the previous ruling was a misapplication of copyright law,” said a spokesman. “We're pleased with this latest ruling.”